Alan Luna

What do you enjoy about climbing?What I enjoy most about climbing is the fact of pressing yourself for a goal and when you have reached it you want a higher goal. I love the process of training your body, mind and soul for this goal.

Last but not least, I love to disconnect from my work routine, from the city, etc. I love being in nature, camping or traveling in my van that we built, our little motor home. You can check our Instagram @climbing_van_life_mexico.

How did you start climbing?In my childhood, in the place where I lived, we were like 10 friends, which we had a lot of energy and we were always playing in the street, skateboard, bicycle. We got into the construction of the houses to destroy things or we were hooked to the cars to be pulled in an avalanche, etc. In summary, we didn´t behave very well (hehe).
In this neighborhood they always made a meeting between neighbors every month, in one of those meetings, the neighbors began to propose rules and ideas to calm us down. A neighbor was the wife of the owner of a climbing wall/gym in Mexico City (Escalodromo Carlos Carsolio). She offered to take us a weekend to get down our testosterone and our energy. The first month we were 10, a year later we were two, after that I was the only one of all my friends in the sport. From the beginning I fell in love with climbing, I always sought to improve myself, and more when I met the rock. Little by little I started buying my equipment, growing as a person and as a climber in the climbing culture of Mexico. Today is not only my sport or my hobby, it is my way of life.

Other interests?Work: After Marketing I studied Aviation in Dallas Texas USA, I work as an executive pilot and at the same time I put a bouldering gym with krav maga and aerial dance in Mexico City called V+ Bouldering & Sport Center.
Van Life: We spent 4 months building/conditioning a Sprinter van into a little home, me and my girlfriend we investigated how to do it, I’m glad to say that we did the 90% of the work. We learned a lot about, carpentry, how to assemble a solar electric circuit, insulating materials, etc.
Boston Terrier: I love my boston terrier, his name is Bolt, you can check his Instagram @bolt_boston_terrier.

Your the most impressive climbing experience?When I just finished my highschool. At that time I was thinking what to study, I didn’t have to much idea.
I spend a couple of weeks of that summer in France in the Verdon. I was doing a multipitch rout with a friend older than me, in that trip, my friend asked me, what I was going to study, I told him that I really didn’t know but that could be aviation or architecture, I was confused.
Then, when I was climbing in second, trying to reach the anchors of a pitch, (that anchors were comfortably on a tinny shelf/ledge). At the precise moment that I stand up on the ledge, a jet fighter flew into the Verdón canyon, its rumble was heard first and then the jet passed closed to us (meters away but for us seemed to be close).
It was amazing, we were astonished, the rock started to shake and the loose rocks started to falling before knowing the reason.
It was a coincidence of the universe that this happen at that time, when I was thinking about that decision of my life. I took it as a signal, and much better because I was climbing.

Plans for the future?Start to bolt in Mexico • solidify my 8c´s • help my girlfriend to climb her first 8th • run a marathon • climb 9a+ • Van Life Project, travel through South America with the purpose of climbing and enjoying.

Climbing in 100 years?
I think that at this moment we are experiencing a marketing boom. The sport is growing exponentially.
Climbing is no longer a small sport, maybe it will not be football, but we are seeing a severe evolution in several areas (economics, publicity, brands, corporations, number of climbers, crags, meditative events, etc).
The inclusion of the climbing as an Olympic sport will help us to see it as a serious activity. Where schools and universities are now planning in their budget a certain amount of money for the construction of their own walls/bouldering areas. As for example in Mexico, there are intra-university competitions, where each team/university competes against the others (famous universities of Mexico).

More info about me:
Instagram @alanluna_climbing, Facebook Alan Luna.
Philosophy of Life: Do everything with passion, have fun when you have to party, work hard in the professional field, make love with passion and “escala a muerte”- climb to death, in other words, give all of you in everything, be proactive, passionate and always looks for smile.